Perfect World 2011 Review- Genesis
By Bryan King, OnRPG Journalist
Upon release, Perfect World was possibly one of the most anticipated games of 2008. It’s been three years, but Perfect World has not stopped growing. Genesis, Perfect World’s latest expansion, provides a great deal of content for players to enjoy, including a new race, two new classes, new areas, dungeons, and guild bases. Will Perfect World withstand the test of time that usually plagues MMOs? Read below to find out…
Genesis Lore:
“There will be a time when the beautiful world will cease to exist as we know it today.
The land of Perfect World will suffer destruction the likes of which has never been seen. The world will be torn apart, leaving massive crevasses across its surface. The oceans will rage with turmoil and the tides will swallow everything in their path. The races of the world, thrown into chaos, will not understand what is happening to their beautiful world.”
The Time of the Prophecy Has Come.
However, within the depths of the underground, an ancient race of people with arcane powers and innate psychic abilities have foreseen the coming of this post-apocalyptic world. In knowing the future, they have dedicated their lives to prepare for such a day. The time has now come for them to emerge from the underground. They must join the other races of Perfect World and fight alongside them through the coming disaster.
“This thing looks EXACTLY like I do IRL O_o” (Character Customization):
Perfect World’s character creation is definitely one of the most notable features within the game. In terms of a fantasy based free to play MMO, Perfect World probably has one of the most extensive and detailed character creation systems ever created. The amount of detailing players can put into their character is astounding, allowing everything from eye shadow color to hair length, to mouth width. I had no problem recreating many of my favorite fictional characters.
The flawless character customization even allows you to upload a reference image. So, if you want to go ahead and conjure up a spitting image of Justin Bieber, just so you can fly as high as you can into the air and watch him fall endlessly to the ground, you can find an image on Google, download it, and upload it in-game so you have a guide to use without having to alt tab. Other F2P games definitely need to take a page out of Perfect World: Genesis’ book when it comes to character creation. The two most recent expansion races simply add even more content, with the Earthguard and the Tideborn allowing more customization to player taste.
Gameplay:
Perfect World: Genesis expands upon the already established franchise by adding the Earthguard race, which carries with it the Seeker and Mystic classes. These two classes possess many new skills and up the total to 10 classes. Perfect World definitely allows for much variability in terms of gameplay between the ten classes (Archer, Assassin, Barbarian, Blademaster, Cleric, Mystic, Psychic, Seeker, Venomancer, and Wizard), and the five races (Earthguard, Human, Tideborn, Untamed, Winged Elves). The gameplay aspects of the classes, allow various mixtures of combat, ranging from aerial combat, to underwater battles, and last but not least, those on land. Winged Elves are the only class that can fly from level one, as their name implies, they’re given the gift of flight from birth. Other races have to wait until level 30, unless you buy an Aerogear (flying mount) from the Boutique or earn one via one of the games many events. I felt like flying handled well, but was limited in the long run. Many UI bars made me paranoid as I took off flying, since “acceleration” (a sort of “turbo boost” for the Aerogear) is limited to an expendable reservoir of energy that has to be replenished via in-game items.
Perfect World’s combat isn’t much to brag about. There are a lot of classes, sure, but the combat system seems very repetitive and has been done many times before. Targeting a mob, using the keys 1-9 or f1-f9, standard MMO stuff. However, the game features many expansive modes such as a very finely tuned Pet System, Territory Control System, and Crafting System. My favorite out of these three is definitely the Territory Control System because I’m a sucker for open world objective based PvP. The Territory Control System allows various guilds to bid on “states” to own in the game. Guilds can battle over these territories and utilize catapults and different types of towers to attack and defend these, leading to an epic-looking battle royale. The grand prize? All guild members get the ability to teleport to the states you own every hour, as well as providing services such as free healing and item identification, thus adding a benefit to fighting so hard and paying so much for a territory. Perfect World isn’t so unique in terms of combat, but is chocked to the brim with a ton of cool features to overcome this weakness and find a way to enjoy the game.
Graphics:
Perfect World excels in this aspect. With Perfect World: Genesis, many of the game’s textures have been redone, adding even more beauty to the established franchise. Character detailing is crisp, textures look beautiful, and the overall atmosphere of the game has a great feeling to it. You definitely cannot go wrong in terms of the game’s graphics, especially considering the ability of flight allows you to take in the game’s atmosphere even more.
Character design is completely customizable, as covered in the character customization section. The lighting effects within towns makes the game look great and shiny when simply exploring the world. I found myself flying around for almost half an hour just taking a look at the massive environment and my eyes ate it all up.
Conclusion:
Fundamentally, Perfect World is a simple game. The combat isn’t anything special, the setting doesn’t seem shockingly new, and the classes aren’t novel. However, the various bonus features make it great. Players who have never experienced an MMO are lucky to come across this game, as it is a perfect “bread and butter” introduction to all MMOs , whether they areF2P or P2P, because of the great features. Perfect World is a must play for any MMO gamer, as the features it has aren’t common within the industry.